Trump: Rep. Omar should resign from Congress
President Trump says Minnesota congresswoman’s apology over anti-Semitic tweet was “lame”.
Elad Benari, 13/02/19 04:18
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called on Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, to resign from Congress following her anti-Semitic tweets.
“Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress,” Trump told reporters at a White House Cabinet meeting.
“It’s terrible what she said and I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” he added.
Trump also rejected Omar’s apology for her remarks and described it as “lame”.
“What she said is so deep-seated in her heart that her lame apology, and that’s what it was, it was lame and she didn’t mean a word of it, was just not appropriate. I think she should resign from Congress,” said the president.
Omar, a Muslim, caused an uproar on Sunday after she responded on Twitter to a threat two days earlier by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to take action against her because of her past statements on Israel by saying, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby”, a reference to $100 bill featuring Benjamin Franklin.
Her seeming implication that McCarthy was attacking her at the behest of the pro-Israel lobby was made clear with her subsequent response to a tweet by Batya Ungar-Sargon, an editor at The Forward, who tweeted, “Would love to know who @IlhanMN thinks is paying American politicians to be pro-Israel, though I think I can guess.”
“AIPAC!” Omar replied.
Democratic leaders blasted Omar for her comments, as did Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton, who said, “We should expect all elected officials, regardless of party, and all public figures to not traffic in anti-Semitism.”
Jewish organizations, including the National Council for Young Israel and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, also denounced Omar.
In an attempt to do damage control, Omar on Monday apologized for the tweets.
Trump’s comments on Tuesday marked the second time he has criticized Omar’s tweets. On Monday night, he described her remarks as “a terrible statement” and added, “I think she should be ashamed of herself. And I don’t think her apology was adequate.